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OEATION 



DKLIVERED AT THE 



CEITENIIAL CELEBRATION 



Evacuation of Fort Duquesne. 



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Hon. A^ W. LOOMIS. 



Pittsburgh, November 35, 1858. 




PITTSBURGH: 

PRINTED BY W. S. HAVEN, CORNER MARKET AND SECOND STS 

1859. 






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O E A T I O N. 



We have assembled to celebrate a remote event in our 
local history. We have selected as the appropriate the- 
atre of that celebration, the precise position of its occur- 
rence. The presence of unnumbered thousands denotes 
the deep, pervading and universal interest of the occa- 
sion. In its presence, conflict of opinion and collision of 
interest are forgotten. Discarding all considerations that 
could alienate our sympathies or sever our efforts, with 
one heart and one mind, with kindred feelings and iden- 
tical views, we cordially and sincerely unite in honor of 
an event deeply affecting our common destiny. 

Although that event occurred in a wilderness of the 
Western Hemisphere, it vibrated through the heart of a 
transatlantic empire. It was the precursor of defeat to 
cherished hopes and gigantic schemes of extended do- 
minion. It was conspicuous in a series of causes involv- 
ing in clouds and darkness the cheering visions of 
anticipated conquest, and arresting by impassable and 
permanent barriers, the previously successful march of 
triumphant encroachment. It was a medium through 
which the intelligent statesman and sagacious warrior 



of the Old World, could readily discern the ultimate 
fate of his country's fortunes in the JSTew. 

The mingled influence of the sceptre and the cross, 
had with ceaseless industry and persevering effort, amid 
privation and sufferings, diffused the power and domin- 
ion of France over the regions of the North, and along 
the vales and streams of the South, to the waters of the 
Gulf. She had established a cordon of posts and mili- 
tary lodgments extending from the St. Lawrence to the 
Mississippi, excluding the authority, and defying the 
power of England. She had seized and fortified this 
interesting spot, previously selected by a youthful and 
sagacious eye, and designated by an accurate and almost 
unerring judgment, as an eligible position for the protec- 
tion of his country's interests. In this fortress, France 
held the key which opened the way to the fertile regions 
of the West, and devised and concentrated the means 
of annoyance and destruction to approaching settlements 
from the East. By her appliances, enlisted and cherished 
here, she added to the terrors of civilized warfare the 
horrors of savage ferocity and cruelty. Her rude forti- 
fication upon the banks of the Ohio, seemed as inaccessi- 
ble as the walls of Troy. Its repellant forces arrested 
every hostile approach. Defeated and disgraced, her 
enemies were repeatedly compelled to trace with reluct- 
ant steps their path across the solitary mountains. The 
disgraceful surrender of Grrant had dishonored a beauti- 
ful elevation, now crowned by the lofty temples of justice 
and religion. An inglorious defeat had rendered the blood 



of Braddock a fruitless sacrifice, on the banks of the 
Monongahela. No monument has been reared to mark 
the spot or perpetuate the memory of the event. The 
traveler, borne upon the fleeting train with a momentum 
causing the ashes of the slain to tremble in their repose, 
passes, without recognition, the memorable field. A 
brilliant victory on the Plains of Abraham, consecrated 
the blood of Wolfe, and rendered his name immortal. 
As the stranger approaches the lofty citadel of Quebec, 
his eyes rest upon a beautiful monument, erected to per- 
petuate the memory of Wolfe and Montcalm. Having 
passed the walls of the city, when approaching the Plains 
of Abraham, he beholds in the distance a slender column, 
marking the spot where the illustrious warrior expired. 
Having reached the interesting object, his eager eye is 
fixed upon the sublime and appropriate inscription, still 
legible, though corroded by time, and obscured by dep- 
redation, "Here he died, Wolfe, victorious." Such are 
the results of success and failure, of triumph and defeat. 

The reputation of England had been dishonored by 
the fate of her enterprises and the defeat of her pur- 
poses. Her arms had in gloriously yielded to French 
strategy and Indian atrocity. Her settlements had been 
ravaged, her subjects plundered and slaughtered; mis- 
fortune and dishonor rested upon her projects, her 
efforts and her fame. Neither safety nor security dwelt 
under the protection of her civil or military administra- 
tion ; the objects of government had failed; the results 
of toil, subordination and suffering, had proved fruitless 



6 

and unavailing. Even lofty mountains and trackless 
wastes had proved no protection against hostile encroach- 
ment. The torch, the scalping-knife and the blaze of 
conflagration, were familiar objects of sight and terror, 
east of the Alleghenies. To the English colonist, Fort 
Duquesne appeared to be the fruitful source of unnum- 
bered woes and direful misfortunes. A long series of 
calamities, alike unexpected and deplored, had humbled 
his pride, and saddened his heart. No cheering ray 
illumined his path or animated his hojoes. The objects 
around him were shrouded in the dark shades of antici- 
pated suffering ; his thoughts and feelings were tinged 
with the melancholy hue of expected calamity. 

But from the disastrous field of Braddock, moistened 
by the blood of unfortunate heroes, sprang a fame and 
renown, shedding a lustre over the sombre scenes and 
disastrous events of our early history. A youthful war- 
rior appeared, whose daring deeds, determined courage 
and conspicuous wisdom, justly awakened lofty and uni- 
versal admiration. A man of God, with prophetic tongue 
and fervent hoj)e, by prediction alike happy and truthful, 
designated him as the elect of Providence, protected and 
preserved through the clustering perils of the deadly 
conflict, to be the future saviour of his country. 

The long series of calamities and misfortunes, sicken- 
ing to hope, and paralyzing to effort, had reached its 
termination. Brighter days and fairer prospects were 
about to dawn upon these then desolate and cheerless 



valleys. The light of new events, and the fruition of 
more propitious hopes, were soon to cheer the heart of 
the soldier and the pioneer. The pride of England was 
awakened ; her energies and those of her colonies were 
eifectually aroused. Her military forces were organized 
and approaching. They were sufficient in numbers and 
adequate in courage to the accomplishment of her deter- 
mined purpose. Victory or death," was the theme of 
ever}" tongue, and the resolve of every heart. The 
fixed design of dislodging at once and forever, from this 
formidable and favorite entrenchment, the capacities of 
French and Indian annoyance, nerved the arm and con- 
trolled the will of every soldier. The advance of the 
army was regarded by the mother country with trem- 
bling anxiety, and by the colonies with fearful interest. 
The resolute commander had been borne from the Dela- 
ware to the Monongahela upon a litter ; he was prostrated 
by suifering, but resolved to execute the purposes and meet 
the expectations of his country. When advised to retrace 
his steps, giving vent to the invincible impulse of his 
heroic spirit, he profanely but solemnly declared, that 
"on the following night he would sleep in the fort or in 
hell !" His troops were reposing on the banks of a 
neighboring stream, preparatory to a final assault on the 
morrow ; when, on the eventful night preceding the day 
whose anniversary we celebrate, the reverberations of a 
terrific explosion awoke them from their slumbers. The 
enemy had departed ; and on the 25th of November, one 
hundred years ago, the cross of St. George floated for 
the first time over the deserted ramparts and desolate 



8 

walls of Fort Duquesne. French domination, passing 
from the light of conflagration to the shades of returning 
darkness, descended the beautiful river, never to return. 
The foot of the foe had pressed for the last time the soil 
on which we stand. 

The lordly savage roaming upon the hill-tops, or glid- 
ino' upon the unruffled surface of the quiet waters, beheld 
with silent amazement or with stoic indiiference, the 
scenes which witnessed the approaching power of Eng- 
land and the departing dominion of France. The eye of 
civilized man scarcely looked out upon the events of a 
century ago. The rivers glided onward in their courses ; 
the forests waved in token of symjDathy; and nature 
smiled upon the passing scene. Though the shout of 
triumph may have resounded through the smoking ruins 
of the deserted fort, though an autumnal sun may have 
shone out upon a landscape of varied charms and tran- 
scendent beauty; though the gladdened heart may have 
leaped for joy, and the delighted voice may have poured 
forth the tribute of awakened gratitude and fervent de- 
votion ; cultivation, improvement and freedom, were not 
there. Powers, elements and appliances, now yielding 
their rich treasures to the dominion and happiness of our 
race, then reposed among the undivulged mysteries of 
nature. The wonders of steam and electricity had not 
been developed upon the ocean or the land. Jefferson 
had not penned that immortal record of liberty, the 
Declaration of Independence ; the sword of Washington 
had not been drawn in defense of liberty; Madison, 



9 

Hamilton and Jay, had not shed over the almost 
perfect creations of political wisdom the matchless 
light and resistless power of their transcendent intel- 
lects ; the fathers of the republic had not given to the 
practical administration of the most perfect government 
which the world ever beheld, the benign and successful 
influence of their pure morality, their enlightened wis- 
dom and devoted patriotism. 

Even after the conquest of Fort Duquesne, this pre- 
cious heritage of freedom was under the influence of royal 
authority and foreign dominion. The throne, the crown 
and the sceptre, were then revered as the just pride of 
regal power and the significant symbols of legitimate au- 
thority. That national emblem beneath whose gorgeous 
folds the American soldier, regardless of danger and reck- 
less of life, will march wherever duty or honor may call, 
had never floated over "the land of the free and the home 
of the brave." 

But the results of the conquest cannot now be fully 
appreciated. The concomitant and surrounding events 
gave to success a charm, a fascination, an overpowering 
influence that cannot now be realized. In the dim and 
hazy distance of departed years, the effect may be faintly 
imagined, but it can never be truly felt. The honor of the 
country was redeemed, and its authority vindicated ; its 
flag floated over an undisputed and undisturbed sover- 
eignty. French authority had made its final retreat. 
Savage atrocity was rebuked, disarmed and restrained. 



10 

It never again re-crossed the mountains, or exhibited its 
horrors in the ralleys of the East. It continued, for a 
brief period, a struggle waning in energy and diminish- 
ing in success, until the etiectual prostration of its strength 
compelled a retirement to the wilds of the West. Re- 
lieved from the presence of hostile power and fatal dan- 
ger, these fertile and healthful valleys soon invited the 
approach of the settler. They presented inducements 
to emigration, and promised rewards to cultivation, which 
soon secured the presence and theintiuence of the arts 
and improvements of civilized life. In their train soon 
followed the protection of government and the blessings 
of civilization. Within ten years after the abandonment 
of the fort, the government was enabled to open the 
immense and fertile regions of the West to applications, 
survey and settlement. And even now conclusive evi- 
dence of the route of the gallant Forbes exists upon the 
original surveys reposing among our public records. 

Surrounded by the same lofty hills that witnessed the 
events we celebrate, beholding the same beautiful stream 
that bore upon its placid surface the retiring power o^ 
a hostile nation, we look back upon the wonders of a 
departed century. But. thanks to Almighty God, the 
proud liag of England no longer waves over our free 
and happy soil. The throne, the crown and the sceptre 
have yielded to the acknowledged and practical sover- 
eignty of the people. Subjection and obedience to des- 
potic power and foreign dominion, have been supplanted 
by the genial intiuence and aAvakening impulse of equal 



11 

laws and liberal institutions. Free as the air which he 
breathes, the American citizen walks abroad, in the dig- 
nity of his nature, to the fulfillment of his appropriate 
^destiny. A potential and essential element in the great 
aggregate of state and national sovereignty, he performs 
the functions of his position with an intelligent regard 
to the fortunes, the prosperity and happiness of himself 
and his descendants. The interests of his country, inter- 
woven with the integrity and security of all the safe- 
guards of freedom and protection, will ever challenge 
and command his most faithful allegiance and devoted 
efforts. Individual safety and security, so happily and 
intimately blended with the political organization and 
practical administration of our complex system of gov- 
ernment, will ever be operative and influential agencies 
in the promotion of the general prosperity. 

The theatre of this celebration is at the entrance of 
one of the most extraordinary regions of the earth. Ge- 
nial in clime, fertile in soil, and fruitful in resources, the 
great Valley of the Mississippi is the most noble, ex- 
panded and glorious heritage of freedom that ever be- 
nignant Heaven vouchsafed to man. In its capacious 
bosom beats the heart of a mighty empire. Successively 
the theatre of savage and despotic sway, it is now the 
seat of disciplined and invincible power. The world in 
arms could neither intimidate its heroic defenders, or 
subvert its well established liberties. Its powers of 
defense are adequate to any emergency ; its faculties of 
resistance transcend the capacity of any encroachment. 



12 

Far removed from the combinations and the despotism 
of the Old World, enthroned in the affections of her 
children, the Goddess of Liberty may well delight to 
dwell in this Paradise of freedom. 

It is due to the place and the occasion, to the merits 
of the present and preceding generations, to the truth of 
history and the progress of improvement, that we should 
contrast the present with the past, the smoking ruins of 
a deserted fort with the powers, capabilities, energies 
and improvements of a populous and prosperous city; 
that we should note the growth and progress of the 
political, physical and intellectual changes which a cen- 
tury has wrought; that we should pay a sincere and 
grateful tribute to the worthy and influential efforts of 
the living and of the dead, in producing the rich results 
of a century's suffering and experience; that we should 
glance at the growth of our city, the progress of our 
venerated commonwealth, and the prosperity of our 
glorious Union. 

A century ago, these beautiful hills, and vales, and 
streams, passed from the rule of one foreign sovereignty 
to that of another ; from the crown of France to that of 
England. Fort Pitt arose, like a pha?nix, from the 
ashes of Fort Duquesne: and Pittsburgh, like a wild 
flower in the wilderness, sprang i\]) by its side. 

The flag which floated over the ramparts of Fort Pitt, 
was an emblem and symbol of monarchical power and 



13 

foreign domination. King, lords and commons, more 
than three thousand miles distant, claimed and exercised 
executive and legislative sovereignty over this colonial 
dependency ; the influence of the King and his parlia- 
ment was felt and acknowledged over regions now conse- 
crated to freedom. I once saw a venerable man ap- 
proach the book in yonder temple of justice, who in his 
detail of ancient events, declared that even liere he had 
been an apprentice to the King's baker. With what in- 
dignation and amazement would the sturdy freeman 
now listen to a proposal to apprentice his son to a minion 
of royalty ! 

A century ago, primeval and almost unbroken forests 
waved over the scenes which surround us ; the streams 
glided onward in silence/save when the frail bark of the 
Indian rippled the surface of their quiet waters ; the 
wonders of art and of science, the efforts of genius and 
industry, had not shed their benign influence over the 
scene; no lofty spire pointed to heaven in token of 
man's submission or devotion, of his hopes or his fears, 
of his fall or his elevation. True, the voice of God was 
heard in the distant thunder, his power was displayed 
in the terrific lightning ; but the voice of his ministers 
was not heard in the temple of worship. In this distant 
region no government existed but that of the sword ; 
ultimate sovereignty dwelt beyond the waters of the 
ocean. The treasures of our hills and valleys reposed 
in obscurity, unnoticed and almost unknown. Our for- 
ests appeared rather as the embellishments of a grace- 



14 

ful scene, than the sources of wealth and improvement. 
Our mines, if known, were regarded as idle and useless 
elements among the wonders of an incomprehensible 
creation. Our rivers gratified the eye by their beauty, 
but yielded no facilities to the burthens of commerce or 
the delights of travel and adventure. Man lived and 
moved and had his being, but was clothed with few of 
the powers, faculties and advantages which now expand 
his influence, elevate his position and multiply his en- 
joyments. 

We recognize, we appreciate, by observation and ex- 
perience, and by the countless evidences which are pre- 
sented to our attention, the condition of the present; but 
no patriarch, made venerable by a life of centuries, lives 
to tell us of the condition of the past. No eye which 
beholds the scenes now before us, beheld the events of 
seventeen hundred and fifty-eight. But though the pa- 
triarchal age is j^ast, and longevity has, by the fiat of 
Heaven, been curtailed of its fair proportions, he who 
has attained to three-score years and ten has beheld more 
progress and improvement than Adam during the nine 
hundred and thirty, or Methusaleh during the nine hun- 
dred and sixty-nine years of his life. 

It would be folly and presumption in meto attempt 
to present to this enlightened audience the details of our 
present condition. They are patent to every eye, the 
theme of every tongue, the delight of every heart. The 
wealth, the power, the resources, improvements and 



16 

achievements of this city, are intimately known and 
correctly appreciated by the numerous intelligent and 
enterprising citizens who have so long mingled and par- 
ticipated in the triumphs and conquests which have 
given to skill and enterprise a capacity of production, 
an extent of market, and a demand for consumption, 
that have laid broad and deep the stable foundations of 
capital, rewarded the active and patient efforts of toil, 
given to persevering industry the just recompense of 
comfort and abundance, covered our hills and valleys 
with the abodes of manly independence, reared in our 
midst the structures of art, the halls of learning, the 
temples of religion and the mansions of wealth and re- 
finement. 

These honored citizens have, by their successful in- 
dustry and cautious enterprise, by their high and noble 
career of honor, given to our city a reputation for safety, 
security and stability, unsurpassed in the Union. During 
the terrific monetary convulsion which so recently swept 
like a tornado over the Old World and the New, scarce 
a single citizen of Pittsburgh yielded to its pressure. 
Credit, like the tall and sturdy oak, bowed for a time be- 
fore the fury of the blast ; but, sustained and strength- 
ened by the honorable efforts and faithful integrity of 
these worthy citizens, it soon regained its former erect 
and elevated position. The diffusion of intelligence 
among the masses of our citizens ; the liberal encourage- 
ment of arts, science and invention ; the mighty agency 
of steam in the abridgment of labor, the economy of 



16 

time, and the increase of production ; faithful and perse- 
vering industry ; frugality and economy in raiment, hab- 
itations, and enjoyments of life ; are among the pro- 
ductive causes which have wrought the wonderful 
changes of a departed century — which have planted 
upon the site of a deserted fort and an almost unbroken 
wilderness, a city whose wealth and influence attest an 
honorable present, and betoken a successful and trium- 
phant future. 

Over all these delightful scenes are thrown the su- 
premacy of law and the majesty of justice. Around 
them exists a military organization of citizen soldiers, 
identified with the people in feeling and interest, whose 
strong arms and heroic spirits will fearlessly mingle in 
terrific encounter, whenever and wherever conflict may 
come ; and who will ever stand watchful guardians and 
faithful sentinels over the rights of property and the se- 
curity of liberty. We have the authority of Washington 
himself, that in the disgraceful and disastrous defeat of 
Braddock, the regular troops, the minions of royalty, fled 
like sheep before hounds ; while the native-born soldier, 
who had a home and a country to protect, manfidly stood 
his ground, or gloriously fell, in the discharge of his 
duty. Should the citizen soldiers whose presence has so 
appropriately honored this occasion, ever be called to 
the field, the remembrance of the past, the obligations of 
the present, and the hopes of the future, will all conspire 
to secure a faithful and heroic discharge of duty. The 
citizen soldier will ever, in a republic, be found the sure 



17 

and certain guardian and protector of the law, whose 
wholesome restraints are so essential to the preservation 
of liberty. 

The historian has told us that when the treachery and 
oppression of James the Second had driven him from his 
throne and kingdom, and William of Orange was ap- 
proaching his deserted crown and sceptre, among the 
distinguished men who met and welcomed him to Eng- 
land, was the veteran Maynard, who, at the age of ninety 
years, retaining his faculties in their pristine vigor and 
youthful energy, was confessedly the leader of the Bar 
of that nation. William, beholding with astonishment 
the extraordinary man and his wonderful capacity, 
remarked, " Mr. Sergeant, you must have survived all 
the lawyers of your standing." " True," replied the 
ready and courtl}" advocate, " and had it not been for 
your Highness, I should have survived the laws, too." 
All history has taught us, my friends, that he who has 
survived the laws will soon learn that he has survived 
also the liberties of his country. 

Even a cursory notice of the tribes of aborigines who 
once dwelt upon this favored land, whose memories 
have descended the broad stream of authentic history 
or the devious currents of doubtful tradition, would 
transcend the legitimate limits of the present discourse. 
That powerful combination, the Six Nations of Indians, 
once scattered over a large portion of the English colo- 
nies, is broken ; and the remnants of the tribes have 

3 



18 

scarce an existence in the wilds of the West. They 
have disappeared before the march of civilization. Not 
an individual of the aboriginal race remains upon our 
soil. Alliquippa, Shingiss, Gyasutha, Pontiac — braves, 
women, children, and their descendants — all, all have 
departed ; and most of them have gone to the spirit- 
land. The few who linger behind and are scattered 
over the regions of the West, are the descendants of 
those who in jeavs long past and gone cast a lingering 
glance ujoon the graves of their fathers, and dispirited 
and hopeless wended their sad and solitary way to new 
hunting-grounds in the regions of the setting sun. 
Forgetting their vices and cruelties, and cherishing only 
the remembrance of their manly virtues and generous 
deeds, the pale-face may appropriately drop the tear of 
sympathy and sorrow for their sad but inevitable fate. 
Their presence, their power and their habits, would have 
been insuperable barriers to the march of civilization. 
The antagonist races could not dwell u^ion the same soil 
or exist under the same government. Among the com- 
pensations of their departure, are the presence of refine- 
ment and the triumphs of religion, where once were 
heard only the shouts of revelry and the echoes of the 
chase. All the virtues of civilized society may well 
unite in grateful acknowledgments for their success and 
triumphs in a land whose soil was once subject to the 
sole dominion of the red man. With ardent sympathy 
and generous remembrance,we express the fervent hope 
that the blessings of civilization may alleviate their future 
condition, and that their final destiny may be happier 



19 

than a joyful return to the hunting-grounds of their 
fathers. 

English dominion over the abandoned fort and desert- 
ed territory was of short duration. The privations and 
sufferings which marked the struggles between the con- 
tending powers of France and England soon inured 
to the benefit of a rising Republic. Excluding and 
repelling the authority of the Old World, that Republic 
planted its victorious standard upon the ruins of all for- 
eio-n dominion. The fires which slumbered in the ashes 
of Fort Duquesne were scarcely extinguished before 
the embers of the Revolution were kindled. The ani- 
mating, guiding and leading spirit of that Revolution, he 
whose name and deeds were destined to become the won- 
der and admiration of the world, had already fleshed his 
sword and signalized his valor upon the disastrous field 
of Braddock. The same sagacious and j^outhful eye 
which in 1753 beheld from yonder eminence, and dis- 
closed to his countrymen, the advantages of this spot as a 
military position, saw at an early day the approaching 
conflict with the mother country. Though a faithful 
subject of the King, he was ready to peril his life in a 
struggle for freedom. He had seen in the cool and des- 
perate determination with which his beloved regiment 
had fought on the banks of the Monongahela, a sure 
presage of the manly fortitude and courageous firmness 
with which his countrymen in after years struggled 
against the tyranny of the sovereign for whose cause 
and honor his devoted comrades fought and fell. He 
saw in the honored and manly spirit of those who had 



20 

fallen in supporting the claims of royalty a sure 
evidence of the determined spirit and fearless devotion 
with which their survivors afterward achieved the lib- 
erties of their country. When the fullness of time was 
come ; when tyranny and oppression became insupport- 
able ; when the public intelligence became enlightened, 
and the public will fixed and determined ; when ma- 
turely weighed and considered, the hopes, the proba- 
bilities and the blessings of freedom became in the esti- 
mation of the people a counterpoise to the blood and 
carnage and suffering that must inevitably follow a for- 
cible rupture of the existing relations of the colonies and 
the mother country; and when, at last, our courageous 
and patriotic ancestors threw into the trembling scale 
their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor, and boldly 
resolved to strike for freedom ; the assembled represent- 
atives of the nation deliberately sundered the ties which 
had connected us with the British crown ; and Pennsyl- 
vania, doffing the habiliments of Colonial dependence, 
became a free and sovereign State, appropriately termed 
the Keystone of the Federal Arch. From that moment, 
all dependence upon foreign authority ceased; from that 
instant, this favored and happy region was relieved from 
the burden and influence of all dominion save that of 
our own country. The power of the Indian had ceased ; 
French domination had departed, and British dominion 
was subverted ; no foreign flag has since waved over 
these hills and valleys ; and surely the strong arms and 
heroic spirits of our citizens will never permit the 
approach of a similar indignity. 

In the establishment of a free and independent State, 



21 

we realized a natural and legitimate result of the event 
which we celebrate. The power of England had been 
successfully applied to the extermination of the sover- 
eignty of France, and the preparation of a most inter- 
esting theatre for the enjoyment of freedom upon the 
extinction of her own authority. When that happy 
event arrived, well might the hardy pioneer rejoice in 
the utter overthrow of both French and English domi- 
nation ; well might he look to both events as kindred, 
connected and essential causes of the great results which 
secured to him and his descendants the enjoyment of life, 
liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. If he 
beheld not the raging flames or mouldering ruins of 
Fort Duquesne, well might he regard the soil of 
freedom as blessed and enriched by the diffusion of its 
ashes. As the Israelite pointed his descendants to the 
cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, to the 
passage of the sea, the wilderness and the Jordan, 
as among the predetermined events which marked his 
passage to the Promised Land ; so might the pioneer 
who dwelt on these hills and valle^^s have pointed his 
descendants to the defeat of Braddock, the surrender of 
Grrant, and the desertion of Fort Duquesne, as fore- 
ordained and essential events marking his successful 
advent to freedom and his haj^py deliverance from the 
power of his enemies. We, the descendants and suc- 
cessors of the hardy and heroic men who have gone 
before, may well regard the occasion which we celebrate 
as a golden link in the lengthened chain of events that 
connects our happy destiny with the dependence and 
sufferings of the past. 



22 

When Pennsylvania became an independent State, 
this favored region and its inhabitants became a portion 
of her soil and sovereignty. Our fame and our fortunes 
became identified with hers. Every blow aimed at her 
prosperity and honor is leveled at us. Every cause 
that augments her power and resources, elevates her 
reputation, or extends her influence, is felt in every 
effort of our enterprise and every pulsation of our 
hearts. Thus connected, united and identified, well may 
we dwell for a moment, on this occasion, upon her 
history. In the revolutionary conflict, in the organiza- 
tion of government, in the protection of the lives, liberty 
and security of her citizens, in the promotion of their in- 
terests and prosperity, her energies have been faithfully, 
and in most instances successfully exerted. She has 
been prompt and faithful in the discharge of her duties 
to the Federal Union, in every department of government 
and upon every theatre of action. In the judicial tribu- 
nals, in the halls of legislation, and in the conflicts of 
war, her children have left proud memorials of their 
wisdom, their eloquence and valor. She has contributed 
her share to the support of government and the rewards 
of enterprise. In the construction of the great system 
of roads which has connected the remote East with the 
waters of the Mississippi, and is destined to reach the 
shores of the Pacific, the energies of her citizens have 
been nobly and successfully exerted. In her midst arose 
lofty mountains which seemed to interpose an insupera- 
ble barrier to the accomplishment of the mighty project. 
Well might the boldest heart and the strongest arm have 
refrained from the attempt to accomplish this gigantic 



23 

enterprise. But the eye of her artists looked confidently 
upward ; and the combined influence of skill and perse- 
verance carried the iron way up the rugged mountain 
side until further ascent became impracticable. In this 
emergency, at this critical juncture of the trembling 
hopes and dubious fortunes of the daring enterprise, her 
combined and concentrated energies smote the lofty 
mountain, not as with the spear of Eolus to send forth 
the struggling winds to vex the ocean and the land, 
but for the noble and generous purpose of opening 
through the lofty elevation a grand highway from the 
shores of the East to the fertile valleys of the West. 
And now, through the perforated mountain, pours a liv- 
ing tide of travel and a ceaseless flow of commerce, to 
minister to the enjoyments of life and the success of en- 
terprise through all coming generations. As the native 
of the West journeys onward to behold for the first time 
the wonders of the East ; as the native of the East, who 
has long dwelt in the habitations of the West, returns to 
visit the happy scenes of his youth, or to behold the 
dwellings or sepulchres of his fathers ; having reached 
the highest practicable elevation of the noblest enterprise 
of the continent ; having passed securely the dark re- 
cesses of the mountain ; as he emerges into the light of 
day, his eye rests upon the most sublime and lovely 
scenes, gilded by the mellow and softened rays of the 
setting sun. And as he glides onward to the distant 
scenes of anticipated joys, or to objects hallowed by 
reverence and aifection, he contemplates with grateful 
emotion and admiring regard this achievement of our 
venerated Commonwealth. 



24 

Among the congratulations of this interesting occasion, 
this successful enterprise, this noble contribution to na- 
tional power and public prosperity, may well be cherished 
and commemorated as among her highest honors. 

To the Union, which watches over and protects our 
national honor and interests, of whose being and power 
we are a component and essential part, a passing notice 
is due. Her honor is identified with that of every citizen 
of the Republic. Her interests are blended with those 
of every portion of her soil. Her sovereignty, like that 
of the State, is derived from the people. The object of 
delegating that sovereignty was to protect and promote 
interests that could not be protected and promoted by 
State authority. It was to concentrate the powers, en- 
ergies and faculties of all in the protection of common 
rights and the advancement of common interests. A 
portion of sovereignty, over enumerated objects, was con- 
ceded for specific purposes. The world beheld for the 
first time, in the confederation and the union, the com- 
bined and separate action of concurrent, harmonious and 
independent powers, of distinct systems of government 
derived from and governing the same people. The Union 
sprang from a revolution ; its birth was preceded by the 
throes and convulsions of an empire ; it was baptized in 
blood, and cradled in carnage ; its youth was marked by 
privation and suffering ; its growth was signalized by the 
most heroic efforts and the most generous and self-deny- 
ing virtues; its ultimate triumphs gave joy and gladness, 
stability and prosperity, to thirteen free and independent 
sovereignties. I shall attempt no detail of that extraor- 



25 ■ 

dinary struggle ; its deeds and triumphs have been re- 
corded upon the page of authentic history. But the 
value of its achievements was dependent upon the wis- 
dom of their improvement. Unconnected and independ- 
ent sovereignties, having diverse and discordant interests, 
they were in danger of perpetual collisions and destruc- 
tive conflicts. The attainments of united action were in 
danger of sacrifice to the interests of selfish ambition and 
local supremacy. So obvious were these perils and dan- 
gers, so threatening to the existence and prosperity of 
the States, that the wisdom and patriotism which had 
survived the dangers of the field, united and combined 
in the erection of one of the most wonderful political 
structures that the world ever saw. The fruits of con- 
quest were consecrated, sanctified and (as we hope) made 
immortal, in the sanctuary of a written Constitution, 
uniting in one system all powers, blending all interests, 
and concentrating all the faculties essential to national 
prosperity, State protection and individual security. 
From that Constitution, equaled in its influence and re- 
sults by no other record since the Revelation of Patmos, 
sprang the protection and security of that Union under 
whose inspiring influence unnumbered blessings have 
been difi'used over our country. That Union is worthy 
of a special remembrance on an occasion like the present, 
bringing to notice and commemoration a remote event 
in our history. 'No government ever j^roduced results 
aifecting so deeply the destiny, and promoting so exten- 
sively and universally the well-being, of more than 
twenty millions of freemen. The Union, having existed 

4 



26 

more than eighty years, has become venerable ; may it be 
immortal. Its results have no parallel, its history no 
counterpart ; antiquity knew not its resemblance, our 
own times have not witnessed its equal. Whether we 
regard its aims or tendencies, its efforts or consequences ; 
whether we contemplate its object, its progress or its 
growth ; we are filled with admiration. Discarding all 
the surroundings of royalty, repudiating all the distinc- 
tions of caste, position and wealth, scorning tyranny and 
oppression, resisting encroachment, cultivating peace and 
harmony, cherishing virtue and morality, it spreads the 
segis of its protection over all. "No man is above the 
reach of its justice, or beneath the influence of its power. 

Beloved, revered and venerated; commanding the 
homage of every heart, the acquiescence of every will, 
the action of every energy ; its onward march has been 
marked by a series of triumphs. From its agencies have 
sprung the wonders of our history ; from causes anoma- 
lous and singular, have flowed events most extraordinary 
and unexpected. What wonder that from such a source 
should spring the events which have signalized our 
growth and prosperity ; that from chaos and confusion 
should emanate order and system ; from discord and dan- 
ger, tranquility and security ; that on such a soil the tree 
of liberty should have spread its branches and diffused 
its fruits over a continent ; that from colonial weakness 
should have sprung national power ; that from slender, 
exhausted resources should have emanated a measure of 
wealth securing unlimited credit and unbounded confi- 



27 

dence ; that from the barren rocks and sterile shores of 
an impoverished coast should have sprung the will and 
the means to send forth a national and commercial ma- 
rine, that has exhibited our enterprise and displayed our 
power in every port and upon every sea ; that under its 
protecting influence the hand of toil and the spirit of en- 
terprise have spread over the length and breadth of our 
land wealth without measure and power without stint. 

To the nations of the earth, our national government 
presents capacities, resources and determination that 
command universal respect. In our batteries upon the 
ocean, in our fortifications upon the land, in the armed 
organization of a military power co-extensive with our 
national sovereignty, and embracing three millions of 
citizen soldiers, repose our safety and security. 

In our judicial tribunals the citizen has received a 
measure of protection, the law an accuracy of exposition, 
and justice a certainty of dispensation, unsurpassed in 
any age or country. In the supreme judicial tribunal of 
the Union, the expositions of constitutional law and pri- 
vate right have shed a lustre over our national reputa- 
tion. In our own commonwealth, the great and worthy 
men who have adorned the Bench, have dispensed public 
justice and protected private right, injudicial expositions 
which will live as long as Justice shall have a votary or 
the law an admirer. 

When the soldier beholds an open way to the highest 



28 

honors of rank; when the politician sees the most emi- 
nent distinction attained by the virtues and perseverance 
of those who in early life enjoyed no advantages of j)ow- 
er, fortune or friends ; when the student fixes his ambi- 
tious gaze upon the high places in the halls of learning 
and the temples of justice, filled by those whose genius 
and labor have triumphed over all the obstacles of pen- 
ury and obscurity ; when all the varied employments of 
life behold the results of industry and the accumulations 
of enterprise subservient to the power and obedient to 
the will and wants of those by whose efforts they are 
produced ; then will the energies of a free people develop 
their influence in the production of such events as have 
signalized the present generation. 

Of all the nations of the earth, the citizens of this free 
Republic enjoy a greater portion of liberty and a larger 
share of happiness than any other. Cast your eyes on 
the development of power, the means of accumulation, 
and manifestations of haj)piness that shed abroad their 
influence around you; compare them with the j^eriod 
when the pale and trembling mother, fleeing from the 
approach of the ruthless savage, pressed her precious 
offspring to her agitated bosom, as she passed the gates 
of the rude fortification ; when the bold and cautious 
father kept within reach the unerring rifle to save him 
from surprise of the subtle Indian, as he sought the pre- 
carious means of subsistence for his suffering wife and 
children ; when conflict and carnage marked the strug- 
gle of the pale-face and the red man for dominion over 



29 

the country which we inhabit and the spot where we 
stand; when only the frail bark of the Indian glided 
upon the streams on which the steamer now bears the 
burthens of commerce or speeds the traveler to the dis- 
tant scenes of happiness or adventure ; when only the 
footsteps of the savage penetrated the trackless wilds, 
where now the steam-car — foreshadowed by the vision of 
the prophet, in the chariots that raged in the streets and 
ran like the lightning — bears the traveler onward in the 
pursuits of business or enjoyment. 

What object could be more suggestive of contrast, of 
cultivation and improvement, than the theatre of this 
celebration ? One hundred years ago, the smoking ruins 
of a deserted fortress presented, upon this spot, a spec- 
tacle delightful to the eye and heart of the soldier who 
had fortunately escaped the perils and carnage of an ex- 
pected encounter, and who saw in the scenes before him 
the final fate of French supremacy in these deserted re- 
gions. To-day, multitudes of happy and independent 
freemen assemble here, in one of the most capacious 
depots of the world, erected to facilitate the exchanges of 
commerce. From this point, at the head of the beautiful 
Ohio, the exhaustless treasures of the East are wafted 
upon the noble stream, to supply the increasing demands 
of the West. Here, at the termination of the great rail- 
way which has surmounted and perforated lofty moun- 
tains, the boundless productions of the fertile West are 
placed upon their sure and speedy transit to the capacious 
harbors and endless markets of the East. Stimulating 



30 

the faculties of production, and augmenting the accumu- 
lations of industry, may these expanding exchanges, 
through all coming time, signalize the diffusion of pros- 
perity and multiply the means of enjoyment. 

Here, where a cultivated and enlightened civilization 
prevails; where stands the lofty temple, instinct with 
prayer and vocal with praise, upon a theatre once dese- 
crated by Indian depredation and subtle treachery ; here, 
on this interesting occasion, ought the influence and re- 
sults of the Union, signalized and consecrated by the 
countless blessings which it has diffused around us, to 
be acknowledged and revered by a happy and grateful 
people. 

Here, on this first and last occasion permitted to those 
who are now upon the theatre of action, let us, with one 
heart and one mind, with sincere and fervent affection, 
implore the choicest blessings of Heaven upon the de- 
clining years of the venerable men and women who have 
participated in the interesting scenes which have marked 
our history, and who in their passage to the grave still 
linger in our midst. 

The present of our history is full of hope and promise. 
The eye delights to behold the joyful scenes, the tongue 
to portray, and the heart to appreciate, the incidents con- 
nected with our position. Like the arch of promise, they 
reflect the mingled glories of the genial shower and the 
setting sun ; they grace the smiling landscape with the 



31 

luxuriant verdure of spring, the rich foliage of summer, 
and the golden leaf of autumn. 

The flow of time is as ceaseless as that of the current 
of the Father of Waters ; the moments which to-day be- 
long to the eternity of the future, will to-morrow have 
mingled with the eternity of the past. A hundred 
years will have passed away before the recurrence of a 
similar anniversary. A new race will then be upon the 
theatre of action ; new scenes will be presented to their 
vision ; and the events of an added century will press 
upon their contemplation. The eye which beholds exist- 
ing scenes, will then be closed in darkness ; the tongue 
which now discourses in joy and gladness, will then be 
hushed in eternal silence ; the hopes and joys and sor- 
rows that now agitate the bosom, will then have passed 
into oblivion. Having, in the course of nature and the 
order of Providence, given place to succeeding genera- 
tions, the present will then repose in the mansions of the 
dead. Of the multitudes now dwelling upon our soil, 
history or tradition may preserve a few scattered me- 
morials ; but the multiplied incidents which make up the 
everyday life of man, will then be forgotten. We now 
witness with delight this joyful anniversary; we shall 
never witness another. 



But imagination delights to roam in the future, to 
people its airy creations with joyful hopes and cheering 
anticipations, to behold in the distance the blest abodes 
of loved descendants. It delights to behold upon the 
lofty mountain the illumination of a glorious sun ; in the 



32 

smiling valley, fruitful fields and perpetual verdure ; in 
the dwellings of men, unceasing joys and boundless 
felicity. Even to the devoted Christian, who looks to 
the bliss of heaven as the great recompense for earthly 
sorrows, the anticipation of a happy journey for himself 
and his descendants to that abode, is a consolation and 
delight. But when with the devotion of the Christian he 
mingles the harmonious virtues of the patriot, looking be- 
yond the boundaries of the destiny of himself and of his 
descendants, he contemplates the great aggregate of hopes 
and fears, of joys and sorrows, of prosperity and adver- 
sity, that lie in the distant future of his country's history ; 
if, casting his eyes upon the lofty elevation of an occasion 
like the present, connecting past with future generations, 
he could behold some venerable seer who could disclose 
to mortal eye truthful visions of the future, with what 
trembling and anxiety would he implore a glimpse at 
the future fortunes of his country. But no seer or pro- 
phetic eye graces the occasion ; the mysteries of succeed- 
ing ages are sealed, with the utterances of the thunders 
which the beloved of the Lord was not permitted to 
write. Still we are permitted to trace analogies. We 
are justified in believing and predicting that like causes 
will produce similar results. If, in the course of a de- 
parted century, the events which we have described have 
occurred, and the changes which we have enumerated 
have been wrought ; if, upon the theatre then controlled 
by savage or foreign dominion, free governments and 
liberal institutions have been planted ; if the rights, the 
security and the happiness of men have been established 
upon the ruins of despotism and oppression ; if the most 



33 

beautiful and perfect political structures which the world 
ever beheld, have been reared upon the foundations of 
arbitrary power; if, protected in the enjoyment of just 
and equal rights, more than twenty millions of people 
have consecrated and sanctified a devotion to free govern- 
ment that has ncA'^er before existed, — have enlisted the 
popular aifections and the popular will in the protection 
of the political elements and agencies that have produced 
such astonishing results; if all those elements and 
agencies are now in harmonious and successful operation, 
without a cloud or a shadow resting upon their cheering 
future; well may we infer and justly anticipate that, at 
the expiration of another century, this Republic, rich in 
the treasures of her people, and richer in the memorials 
of wisdom, of eloquence and patriotism, which her chil- 
dren shall have contributed to their country's prosperity 
and renown, will be found pursuing its onward career, 
with more elevated distinction. And when that joyful 
epoch shall arrive, well may the fervent imagination of 
the enraptured patriot anticipate that, in the revolving- 
years and succeeding ages of a glorious future, the insti- 
tutions of his country, adorned by more lofty virtues, 
and sustained by more devoted patriotism, will live and 
bloom and flourish, until all the purposes of creation 
shall have been accomplished ; until, amid millennial 
glories the final consummation shall approach, and — the 
voice of the angel of the Apocalypse resounding over sea 
and land — the immortal spirit of the last victim of Death, 
purified and redeemed, shall enter the Paradise of God. 

5 



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